Chapter one: Story time
Inky blackness. That is it. The entire known universe, nothingness, a void, a blank canvas. This is Null, Null is almost empty. Null is nothing, but it is also everything.
Only four beings existed in the void known as Null. It is said when Null came into being, the four beings were created. It is also said the four beings came from outside of Null. Which is true is unknown.
The four beings never knew each other, they explored Null to find it empty. Eons passed, and an eternity went by, but nothing happened, nothing changed. Time did not even exist in Null, so it was a split second long, but also longer then eternity.
Eventually however, the four beings met. They were perplexed, each one thinking they were the only things existing in Null. But now they knew that they were it, they were, in a sense, everything that existed in Null.
They wondered what to call each other, they never needed names, nor talked. They could communicate though, so names were needed.
The red being was called Tirostus.
The blue being was called Estora.
The green being was called Gritaka.
The yellow being was called Yixtos.
The four beings now explored Null together, hoping to find more beings like themselves. But another eternity later had no results. The beings decided living in Null like this was worse then not existing, death.
Instead of exploring, they wanted to see what they could do. They had powers of sorts, able to manipulate their own inner life force. They called this life force Aether. Aether was the first element of Null.
They tried to combine their powers, maybe it would do something different. It did, they created new elements. One element was hot, it gave warmth, it was like life and death, beautiful but dangerous. They called it Fire.
Another element, it was wet and cool, this element could destroy Fire. Fire could give warmth, but this element, there was something special about it. It could be solid, it could be liquid, it could also be invisible, floating in Null like a gas, like the beings themselves. They called it Water.
A new element came into being. It was more solid then Water or Fire. Even when Water was solid, this element was stronger still. It was stable, powerful. This element soaked up Water, basically destroying it like how Water destroyed Fire. They called it Earth.
The final element was created, this one weirder and more strange then the last three elements. It was invisible, yet it could erode Earth into dust. Water, Earth, and Fire usually collected themselves. Earth pulled at each other, so small pieces grew larger, Water trickled and flowed together, and Fire needed something to burn, Fire could combine. But this element spread out, all over the place. It was not solid, nor liquid. It was a gas, was even more flowing then Water as a gas. They called it Air.
The beings soon discovered Fire fed on Air, Fire could destroy Air.
The beings were content, the four elements were at balance, and their foundation was the life force known as Aether.
They made all these elements, but the only people to enjoy it were the four beings. They decided to sap their own power, the Aether, and use it to create living creatures. First, they used the four elements to create a world for the life. They included a burning star to give warmth to the world, and two moons for the night sky.
The four beings sapped their powers and created strange creatures, many species to live on this world. The four beings had changed Null, but it weakened them greatly. The beings gave up their elemental powers, now too weak from the lack of Aether to use it anymore, and created four elemental races, guardians of this world.
The Golem's, Peacekeeper's of Earth, The Undine, Stewardesses of Water, The Salamanders, Warrior's of Fire, and The Sylph, Observers of Air.
The four beings then did something quite strange, they allowed the four guardian races to combine the elements for bodies for the beings. Earth was now their skin. Water was now in their bodies, creating blood and needing to constantly drink water. Fire was now their soul and emotions, they had no souls, immortal beings, and they were usually not lead through emotion. Air, constantly needing to breath it to live.
They were now mortal, they were now human. Tirostus and Gritaka were men, and Estora and Yixtos were women. From them, the Human race arose, and their numbers grew. Eventually, the four original beings, never telling humans they helped create them, died. They joined the Quintessence, the collective of all soul energy that is, was, and will be.
The humans lived in a small valley, but life was not good. Constant fighting was occuring. The humans were having trouble with a tribe of raxnor, powerful reptile creatures. The raxnor proclaimed themselves ruler of all, and the humans could not keep up unfortunatly, the raxnor being born warriors, and killers.
Somehow though, the humans were able to survive. Even when the odds were against them, human ingenuity, human spirit, kept them alive. The elemental guardians saw that, and decided to help the humans. The raxnor were pure evil, wanting to kill and steal, something was different about the humans. They had their differences, they would even fight, but when it came down to it, humans worked together to survive.
The Golem's built walls around the valley, and created some of the first houses out of stone, and taught the humans how to mine rock and make brick, building whatever they need.
The Undine helped create a spring at the center of the small valley, allowing humans to have a constant supply of fresh water for them, and their crops.
The Salamanders used their power over Fire to show the humans how to refine metal from the rock the Golem's brought, they could make some early weapons, and a little armor here and there.
The Sylph, last to come to the aid of humans, being observers, not fighters, used their powers to change the weather somewhat. Meaning better weather for crops, but making it a tad cool, something the raxnor hated.
All of this helped the humans survive, and they did. The humans and elementals grew close together, it was not weird to see a Salamander teaching young men to fight, or a Sylph teaching children some history of their world.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Eventually, just like the four beings, the elementals would soon have to leave, and the world would be changed forever.
Then it happened. What is it you ask?
It is chaos, it is decay, waste. It started like a disease, a cancer. It was in a small region. The ground was no longer fertile, the water tainted, fire died to ash, and the air was thick like smoke. But the area was so small, everyone ignored it, including the guardians.
Wrong move. Like every cancer, it started to spread, slow at first, but it was getting faster, and stronger.
Some elementals were caught in the Waste as it moved, and they were changed. Some Golem's were eroded away by the chaotic decay, changing it to dust, now it was a Sand elemental. Sand elementals want nothing more then to turn everything to desert and leave only unfertile land.
A few Undine were caught, and were changed as well. Their bodies, made of pure elemental Water, stagnated, they changed into a toxic, acid like substance. The Poison elementals are deadly, wishing to infect and kill all life with their deadly venom.
A few Sylph came to investigate the Waste, it took awhile, but eventually they were changed as well. They used to be hard to see, almost invisible from their bodies of elemental Air, but now they were a mix of white and black, Smoke elementals want nothing more then to choke out humans, using their somewhat toxic smoke to do just that.
The last to fall were the Fire elementals, the Salamanders. Some were caught, and changed as well.
Cinder elementals may not look dangerous, most of their elemental Fire gone now. However, they still glow with heat, but have no control over their flames, now a walked glowing ember, they will cause a torrent of fire and brimstone to burn away everything.
The world was changing. Luckily there were some elemental guardians not changed, a majority actually. But one by one, they were changed. Strangely though, the Waste did not affect humans, and that was a mystery.
The elementals had to do something, the longer they were around this decaying aura, the more elementals would be changed, and then destroying the world and humans. They needed a plan...
The sound of a gong was echoing across the valley. The elder stood up, stopping his storytelling to the children.
He grabbed a warrior standing next to him, "Take the children and get to the Keep!"
"Yes Elder Terlect" The warrior rounded up the children and took them off to a series of caves, the Keep as people call it.
The elder ran to a watch tower and climbed up it, going as fast as his old 60 year old arms and legs could take him up the latter.
He looked over a plain of grass, in the distance, black smoke was growing. "Cinder elementals..." the elder said under his breath. He turned around, groups of warriors running all over the place, getting ready for another battle for survival.
Sword masters came out with claymores and broadswords, ready for the fight.
The elder climbed down the tower, and squeezed a fist. Suddenly the grass around him started to grow faster, vines went around his body, and hardened into wood. He was not in a suit of hard wood. The elder was excellent at manipulating Nature, quite the master of Nature Wielding.
The walked outside of the rock walls, created thousands of years ago by the ancient Earth elementals, the Golem's.
The warriors stood there, some of them shaking. Elder Terlect took a stance at the front of the line. "Get ready men, they are almost here."
The Cinder elementals shrieked with delight, so many bodies to burn, so much life to kill. They got on all fours and ran like rabid dogs, ready for the destruction.
Terlect punched his fist in the air, and vines were sent out underneath the ground, barely able to see them.
A few Cinder elementals were pulled under the ground, but there were too many, even for a master of the Nature element.
Within seconds, the Cinder elementals were on the humans heads. Screams were heard, blades were melted from the heat of the creatures. Humans died.
Terlect pulled more vines up to hold them back, but it only worked for so long. The vines eventually burst into flame.
He struck at them with his staff, but it had little to no affect. The creatures surging into the lines, pushing the humans back.
Next thing he heard was "RETREAT!!!"
Some ran to the wall, others kept fighting. And some, the most noble, stayed, trying to help their injured friends, some would not make it this night.
Terlect called them back, but more and more humans gave up the fight. A searing fist hit him in the stomach. His wood armor could not stand the Cinder elementals power.
He went unconscious, far too old to take a beating like that.
All he saw was darkness.
Chapter 2: The meeting.
“What!!!” Elder Terlect yelled, sweating.
“It is OK dad” a young girl said, well, more like sang, her angelic voice. She pushed him down so he would lay down and relax, a scorch mark on his stomach.
“What happened…” the father asked his daughter. “You were being stupid and took on the Decayed ones again… I told you, you are too old for that.” She was also able to use the Nature element. She could actually cause her herbal medicines to soak into your skin, and make them work much faster. Soon, the scorch mark was gone.
“Thank you Milaya.” he stood up, legs shaking. “Dad, sit down, you need some rest, not very many sixty year olds walk away from Cinder elementals.”
Terlect sat down again, “That’s right….” he remembered the soldiers running from battle, getting hit, and the death. “How many died?” his face showing sadness.
“… Twenty…” she tended to her fathers wounds, trying to get her mind off. She was close to the wall during the attack, she could here… she tried to forget about it. “Father… we can’t just sit here and die like this… I mean….”
“It’s Ok sweetheart, the Elders are meeting together today, we will be discussing what to do.” Her father stood up again. Legs shaking, he walked out of the small house. Milaya ran up to him and grabbed his arm, “Let me help you…”
A guy ran up to Milaya, and saw she was busy, he wondered off. Milaya had many proposals for marriage. Beautiful and smart, daughter of an Elder, and a skilled Nature Wielder, at least, the defensive side of it, like healing. Not to even mention she turned twenty recently, about the age to marry in the village. She turned them all down, she wanted to make a difference for this place, the humans living here, before having a family.
She was kinda short, having a nice tan, not like bronze tan, just enough to not be really white. Her brown hair came down to her shoulders, her eyes a beautiful amber color, small and petite, beauty incarnate as her father says all the time.
But something would happen, very soon actually, that would change destiny, whether or not she wanted it.
In a far off grouping of trees, a young warrior was training. He was getting quite good at Earth Wielding. He practiced for at least a whole day at times, but it was to get his mind off his dark past.
His father and mother went out to stop the decay, the Waste, hoping to stop it, some years ago. They thought they found the ultimate power, and joined it. His father was now the general of the Smoke elementals, and his mother, queen of the Poison elementals. This young warrior, about twenty now, was grown up amongst the Sand elementals, and got very skilled in Sand Wielding.
A group of humans saved this child, by the name of Rayux from his parents, from the Sand elementals. He fought, but was not a strong enough wielder to get them away. But after seeing the destruction his “family” caused, he quickly joined the other humans, and stop his parents.
He walked back to the village, tired of training now. He walked by Milaya, and ran over and helped her with her father, “Good morning Milaya.” he said, bowing some. “Good morning.”
Terlect was one of the people to save Rayux, so Milaya was like a sister to him. “I need to get to the meeting youngin’s, talk about mornings later.” the old man said laughing.
“Let me take him Milaya.” “Thanks” She wondered off, looking for more herbs and whatnot. He took Terlect to the meeting, which already started.
“The Smoke elementals are moving through the East, and the settlement here” a soldier said, pointing to someplace on the map, “Will be hit in about three days…”
More stuff Rayux had no power over, he walked out and headed to a small tent he called home, but Milaya caught him. “I need herbs….” she said simply, her eyes shifty and looking around.
“Come on, how many times do you need to get more herbs..” he whined. “My father was half dead, that takes a lot of herbs to fix” she said sarcastically. Her father was not almost dead at all, but it did get the point across.
“Fine, lets just get this over with.” See, herbs, the useful ones anyways, are rare inside the large wall of the village. It was dangerous to be outside, but over the wall, the best herbs could be found.
They started to walk to a section of wall Rayux could open up with his Earth Wielding, but someone wanted to “talk”….
“Hey, did you here?!?” A guy, looking like hoodlum or thief or something, called to Rayux, “Smoke elementals are going to attack that settlement to the East. Shouldn’t you be helping you dad kill people or something?” he laughed, he had like three other friends there, all laughing too.
Rayux clinched his fists, as you can see, life was not easy for Rayux, and these idiots did not make it any better. “You know what, it is not like I chose to be the son of traitors!” he yelled, getting angry from the constant badgering of people, usually these guys too, about his past. “Wow, OK, too much yelling.” Milaya said, standing between Rayux and the trouble makers.
“And besides” Milaya called to the trouble maker ring master, “You couldn’t get a kiss from me in the Harvest Festival, and that was all your fault.” Rayux lost all his anger and broke out laughing, never knowing that before.
“Wow, Dylit, never knew you were an ani-ladies man” Rayux said, still laughing. Dylit’s face went red, “ You know what…” he fired a fire ball at Rayux, which almost hit Milaya.
“OK!!” Rayux said, pushing Milaya being him, “Now you have gotten on my nerves!” he stomped his foot, and punched his fist, sending a small rock at the Fire Wielder. Another fire ball destroyed it. “OK Sand baby, lets see what you got!” Rayux told Milaya to get out of here, which she did quick. Now several small rocks flew at Dylit.
More fire, but a few rocks got past and hit him in the leg, cursing, you got up and kicked a much larger fire ball at Rayux. He conjured up a large rock shield, the fire hit it and blew it up. Dylit was several years older then Rayux, and as such has had more training. Now you get why Milaya did not take the kiss, her being a little younger made it creepy, and he got a slap to the face. That made a good point for anger to grow.
Rayux got up, he was angry. Suddenly, sand started to spin around him. He was doing something he never wanted to do again, Sand Wield. He sent a blast of sand at Dylit, who shot a fire ball to stop the sand. Next thing he knew, the deviants arm was incased in glazed sand, or glass. His arm now to heavy to hold up and being lopsided, fell to the ground.
Milaya ran back to Rayux, seeing him Sand Wield. “Rayux…” she said softy, slowly the sand slowed down, eventually dying completely. Rayux stood with a fist clenched, then opened his hand. The glass around Dylit’s hand shattered, releasing him. Milaya walked up and helped Dylit up.
“Next time, I will not save you from Rayux…” she glared, Dylit and his cronies ran off, fast and terrified. Milaya smiled and skipped past Rayux, “Lets go!” she sang. He didn’t follow. She called again, and he finally followed.
They eventually made it to the wall, and he opened a small hole. They both climbed out into a heavily forested area. He sealed the rock passage behind him. As Milaya looked for herbs, eventually Rayux could not hold it in anymore. “
“You know what’s annoying?” asked her. “What, the fact we have need more rain for the herbs to grow well” she said, grabbing some leaves. “No, Dylit is going to lie and say I started that….” “And I will say I was there and he started it.”
Rayux punched a boulder, leaving cracks on it. “That’s the point, people still don’t trust me…”
“Rayux..” she said softly again, but he raised his hand, listening. He ran up to her lowered her to the ground, then threw rocks around them, the outside looking like a boulder. She did not say anything, completely trusting him. Rayux has saved her life on more then one occasion, being out here, there are dangerous animals, and deadly elementals.
After a while, he whispered. “Smoke elementals….here…” he said simply. They squeezed around in the rock he created, only enough room to lay on each side of each other.
He opened a small hole in the rock, and they could see Smoke elementals. He closed the hole fast, not wanting to be seen. Apparently Smokes, as a lot of people call them, are not heading to the Eastern settlement. That was a lie, while the soldiers would be sent to that settlement, they would sneak into the city. BAD.
All they could do was wait, unable to leave, and neither good enough to fight several Smoke elementals. It was unknown how many were out there.
They fell asleep, hours passed by, and their lives within a walled sanctuary would end…
Chapter 3: The fight begins.
Rayux was in a deep sleep, but Milaya’s voice woke him up.
“Rayux, is it safe…” “I don’t know, but we have been here for hours.” He slapped his hands together, and the boulder they were hiding in blew up, more or less, allowing them fresh air.
“Weird” he said simply, there were no signs of any elementals moving through here, let alone an army. But something horrible was happening, in the direction of the village, an orange glow and a stack of smoke and ash were raising. The village was burning.
“Milaya!, stay here!” before he could here her protest, he was already too far away to hear. She would wait, for a while. He got to the wall, and found a well sanded hole straight through. Sand elementals. He climbed through the hole, and found the village in ruin.
Houses were on fire, screams were heard, fighting was taking place. “ELDER TERLECT!!” Rayux called out, hoping he was still alive. But he would not have time to search. Two Smoke elementals were floating around like ghosts, stopping in front of the warrior.
He clinched his fists, but his anger was turned to a mix of sadness and rage, for a third elemental appeared, but this one had a human form. It was his father, general of the Smoke elementals.
“Father…” “Traitorous dog” he replied. The clinched fists returned, and the ground started to crack around Rayux.
“Just because you can put on a mad face does not mean you can beat me, or three powerful Smoke Wielders, Boy!” at the word boy, one of the wispy creatures attacked, knocking Rayux back.
“I got some people to choke, and children to smother, see ya around.” his father called, flying into the air and towards the Keep. Those underground tunnels could be filled with smoke easy, killing most of the women and children.
“NO!!” Rayux screamed, trying to chase his father, but the Smoke elemental knocked him to the ground again, it hissed. He threw some small boulders at the creature, but it barely had an effect, Earth was useless against Smoke.
The monster fired a torrent of smoke, and when it hit Rayux, it knocked him to the ground. His eyes stung from the smoke, and he was chocked, no, chocking. He laid there coughing for fresh air.
Milaya, feeling the need to help out and not sit around with the village burning, saw the elemental killing Rayux. She tried with all her power, trying to use some dangerous ability of Nature to help, but she couldn’t, not enough strength and knowledge on how to use it like her father. She did, however, grab a bucket of water and chunked it at the elemental, its smoke died down a bit, enough for Rayux to get back up and launch more rocks at it.
It came at Milaya, but Rayux crushed the elemental with a very large, elephant sized boulder. It took all his strength, but that defeated the creature. Milaya was just about to thank Rayux, but she could hear her father calling, and took off to help. Rayux made his way to the Keep, hoping there was still time.
At the Keep, the general of the Smoke elementals, Tyrak, and another, quite large, Smoke elemental were using a small crack in the heavy metal doorway of the underground tunnels to fill the place with smoke. Coughing could be heard every so often, the people moving deeper in to escape.
Rayux arrived on the seen, but before he could even get close, to Sand elementals raised from the ground. They made great assassins, looking like any other pile of dirt or sand, but whipping and, well, killing most people. Only Wielders of an element stood an average chance against them.
He used Earth against them, it had more of an affect on them then the Smokes, but still, not much. Rayux was already tired from the one elemental earlier, now he had to kill to assassins basically. They shrieked and made their attack. Launching small tornados of sand, and blasts that could sand your face clean off, Rayux decided to go defensive in this battle.
He raised up rock walls, but the sand eroded the rock to pieces, not leaving much for defense. He covered himself in rock, like a suit, to help, but it barely did. The two Sand elementals pinned him to a nearby tree, the sand slowly scrapping away at his armor.
But a blast of fire glazed the sand hitting Rayux, and the attack stopped. He could not believe Dylit would help at all, but he was. He ran up to Rayux, and took an offensive stance towards the confused elementals.
“I thought you hated me?” Rayux said, getting an a offensive stance as well, “Nah, well, sometimes, but I hate elementals more” he said with a grin.
“Listen, shoot the fire and glass them up, and allow me to do some punched, if you get my drift.”
Dylit remembered what happened earlier and now, sand on fire is quite, fragile. “I am fine with that, YYAARRGHHH!!!” He yelled as he fired off several small and a few large fire balls. The Sand elementals made another run, dodging some of the fire balls. One got hit though, and some of it glassed up. Next thing you know, Rayux fires a large rock at it, shattering it, and a small explosion of elemental energy. The elemental was gone.
A sand blast nearly hit Dylit, him firing like a psycho all over the place and not watching, but a rock wall saved him. Another dance of dodging and blasts, and another elemental was down.
Tyrak snapped a finger, and the Smoke elemental helping him flew down, smacking Rayux back, and swiping at Dylit, who barely dodged that attack. Another swipe sent him flying. Rayux was terrified, the elemental was getting larger, absorbing the smoke from all the fires into itself. It was soon the size of an elephant, and still growing. He fired more rocks at it, but no affect.
Dylit shot a fire blast, it helped a little, but the fire that did pass through the creature made more fire, and more smoke. “Ok, I think it is big enough, no need to make it any bigger!” Rayux sarcastically told Dylit. “Ya, I just got that.” he said, jumped to escape a massive sweep from a much larger arm now. Reaching out twenty feet, it was a scary sight, hitting you before you might even see it.
Rayux knew what he had too do however, and he hated it. He had to Sand Wield, he learnt in his time as a Sand Wielder that sand was a lot like elemental Air in some aspects, and air can clear away smoke.
Again, sand whirled around him, he shot a sand blast, and it plowed through the giant creature, tearing off sizable chunks of smoke with it. The creature struck at him again, but he was more worried that his dad was smiling. He was Sand Wielding, it meant his past was still alive, and he could come back at any moment, make that great general of the Sand elementals. Rayux hated it, but tried to keep his mind on this monstrosity.
The creature roared, and a well place punch sent Rayux flying. Flying like a bird, flying like a dragon…. Falling like a bird landing, falling like a boulder off a cliff, falling like a…. BAM!!
Rayux looked around, he was several hundred feet from where he first was, now not even able to see the creature, but he could hear it trampling around and swiping. Obviously its target was Dylit, and he was not making it easy for it. But eventually, Dylit was flying about as far as Rayux was.
Rayux sent up some sand to help him land. It was a hard landing, but a landing nonetheless. They both got up and took a stance, the creature batting trees over.
Milaya found her father, there was some blood on his back, a nasty swipe of sand may have done it. She got out her herbs and tried to heal him, but it was slow going.
“Now….Milaya….Don’t worry….” Terlect said, struggling on each word. She was crying of course, her father was dying. She usually says she saved him from death, but it was too get a point across. This time, she really was trying to save him from death, and he was close.
“It is getting worse Milaya…. You need… To escape…” “Not without you, not without you…” she kept repeating. The healing stopped the bleeding and healed the wound almost fully, but healing does not make more blood, nor does it stop any bleeding on the inside. She was hoping it was not that bad.
A few roars later, the creature was on Dylit and Rayux, both dodging and hitting the creature best they could. Dylit was able to hurt it actually, his fires trying to use the creatures smoke like air, feeding itself. He was making sure to stop his fires from igniting though. No smoke from a fire burning air, or so he guessed.
The creature was getting smaller, it was working, but for how long. Tyrak gave up the smoking of the cave of the cave, and was instead flying over the battle, watching for now. Rayux and Dylit ignored him, this was the priority. Another sand blast, another fire ball, the creature was losing.
A slice of sand to the creatures midsection, and it fell in half, exploding in elemental energy. Rayux just smiled at his dad, winning this battle. He noticed his arm was coating in sand, it strangely hung to him. His dad smiling, knowing the war was just beginning.
His dad flew off, and after stopping his Sand Wielding, the sand coating his arm eventually disappeared. Him and Dylit headed back to the village, helping people around the village, and checking on people in the Keep.
Milaya healed her dad, he was unconscious, but alive. She knew this was it, if he got another hit like this, he might not survive it. But the war was just beginning, the Decayed ones were making a move, they were ready to end this war with humans, and take this planet. Now, the answer to this puzzle lied within the mind of Terlect, and he would soon reveal some of it.
